4 CommentsDear Readers,
You may have noticed that posts have become less frequent and more remote of late. With only a few staff at and around Columbia, news and gossip is harder to come by. For the remaining months of the summer, Bwog will be in hibernation, rousing itself when it finds something too juicy to pass up. As always, tips are appreciated, and can be sent to bwgossip@columbia.edu.
Meanwhile, we hope you all enjoy your travels, adventures, and internships.
Love,
Bwog
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4 Comments
@i doubt it its probably the gerswhin version, though the zombies do it better
@is that a zombies reference? because i only know half a dozen people or so who listen to them
@and it seems that the award for best summer journalism (at least so far) at columbia goes to … the fed. check out their new interview with jon voight.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/thefed/v3/volume21/8/jonvoightinterview.shtml
@Fair & Balanced Fascinating article on internships. I’d go so far as to say that all paid *and* unpaid internships are loss-leaders for the firm in question. I disagree that interns disdain the need to pay dues and work one’s way through (if not immediately up) the hierarchy. Interns take time away from full-time staff because they need to observe and ask lots and lots of questions. And for what? Sometimes, they get coffee. Sometimes, they get the lunch order. Once in a while, they’ll format an Excel spreadsheet.
I think companies understand and accept this because an intern who can be hired into a full-time position who walks in with some familiarity with the job, the industry, and the people is worth vastly more than an employee who walks in clueless. Both guys have to learn. So, you get away with losing less money paying an intern to learn the ropes, than paying a full-time guy more money to take the same time to learn the job.
And interns demanding union membership? Equating interns to illegal immigrants? That’s ridiculous. Illegal immigration is driven solely by a need for cheap, unskilled labor. Internships, both the paid and unpaid variety, fulfills a dual purpose. The unpaid variety, of course, is driven by a need for cheap labor. But both the unpaid and the paid variety, however, are value-added, quantifiable job training as well.
So, I’d agree that “fake jobs” are not always the best preparation for “real jobs” from the intern’s perspective (with some exceptions, e.g. interning at a place one will work at after graduation, hence learning the ropes early). But in every case, they *are* the best preparation from the company’s perspective. And who’s doing the hiring and the paying here?